"Well, now," Rylan said, and Sabrina looked up to see him watching her. "You do know how to smile."

"Do I not smile very much?" Sabrina asked, feeling uncertain. "Now that I think about it, a certain blacksmith tried to burn you to death today, so it's no surprise that you didn't smile at him." "It was just a mistake," Sabrina said.

"That's true, but if I can be honest with you, I've never let anyone get near the forge, and for the very reason you discovered today. I don't know how I let my guard down."

"I didn't realize I was so close."

"I think a cinder must have been on the floor. I a.s.sume the bottom of your skirt was burned?"

"The hem, yes."

Rylan nodded and then said, "All done. It should work now." "Oh, that was fast."

76 "Have a good evening, Sabrina," Rylan said, finding "Bri" a little too familiar.

"Thank you. Oh, just a moment." Sabrina remembered the jacket and went to get it from the corner of the living room. She handed it to Rylan, who looked at her directly.

"Thank you. I'd forgotten all about it."

Sabrina nodded and thanked him again. She closed the door and locked it, thinking Jeanette had been right. He had done nothing to embarra.s.s her.

"What is this?" Butch Sandgren asked, when Sabrina gave him only a portion of the rent money on Friday after work.

"That's half the rent, minus the money it took me to buy the paint and have my lock fixed."

The anger in the man's face was unmistakable when he said, "I can have you kicked out."

"By whom?"

"The sheriff."

"Before or after you explain to him about our agreement?" Sabrina asked, feeling a bit shaken by his anger.

"What agreement?"

"You haven't fixed my stairs, and I've been living here for ten days. If they break, I can't even get to my apartment. Not to mention I could be hurt."

Butch calmed down. He did mean to fix the stairs and had genuinely forgotten.

"All right. I'll get to it next week."

"Thank you," Sabrina said, and turned to go on her way. She was about to round the corner, back to her stairs, when a voice spoke to her.

"More folks should stand up to him. If they did, he'd fix this dump."

77 Sabrina looked around, but all she saw was a window.

"Who said that?" she asked the window, and waited for a woman's face to appear, a cigarette hanging from her mouth. She was not very old, maybe in her mid-twenties, but her eyes were hard.

"I said it. Are you the new woman upstairs?"

"Yes. Bri Matthews."

"I'm Crystal."

"h.e.l.lo, Crystal."

Crystal shook her head in self-derision before saying, "Butch went on and on about how pretty you are."

Sabrina didn't try to comment on that.

"And then I still let him visit me."

"Maybe you shouldn't," Sabrina said with enough confidence that Crystal stared at her.

"I think someone's at my door," Crystal suddenly said. Sabrina could see the front door-no one was there-and saw it for the excuse it was. Still she took the hint.

"I'll say goodnight then."

"He was right," Crystal said before Sabrina could move away. Sabrina looked at her and waited.

"You are pretty."

That said, the face disappeared back inside, and Sabrina slowly climbed the stairs to her room.

"Can Bri stay for supper?" Hannah asked her mother on Sat.u.r.day afternoon.

"As long as she likes venison stew," Jessie agreed.

"I'll ask her," Hannah volunteered. Sabrina said that she did but still checked with Jessie in the next hour.

"Are you sure you have enough?"

"Plenty, but I think I'd better warn you that this is our night to walk by the creek."

78"What does that mean?"

"Oh, that we'll all get at least a little wet."

"I think I can live with that," Sabrina said with a smile, thinking about her recent bath in the livery and thankful she wasn't wearing a white blouse.

Sabrina would have asked Jessie a little more about it, but Patience Dorn was coming her way with a young woman who was holding a baby.

"h.e.l.lo, Bri," Patience greeted. "I don't think you met my niece on Sunday. This is Meg. She's married to Brad. And this is their daughter, Savanna."

"I've heard about you," Sabrina said, smiling at the adorable baby in Meg's arms.

"How do you like working for Jeanette?" Meg asked.

"I like it very much. Sat.u.r.days are my favorite because the contrast of being there in the morning and here in the afternoon is so interesting."

"She means tiring," Jessie teased, and the women went to work on Meg's list. Patience took Savanna into the rear of the store with Hannah and Clancy, and Sabrina was given a chance to get to know Meg.

"How was Theta this morning?" Meg asked.

"Actually, I found an apartment," Sabrina told her. "I'm not at Jeanette's now."

"Oh, I'll bet they miss you. Becky loves to have someone to take care of."

"Well, she sends enough food my way that in some ways she still is."

"That's Becky all right. Oh, are these on sale?" Meg asked, having spotted canned plums and apricots.

"They are on sale, yes."

"Brad loves these," Meg said. "And I don't find them that often."

"I don't think I've ever tried any."

79 "They're not bad. Sometimes the syrup is a little sweet, but it's a treat when I run low on our own canned goods."

Savanna was heard giggling just then, and Sabrina was going to ask about life with a baby in the house, but someone came in the door. Sabrina couldn't see Jessie, so she went to see if she could be of any service.

"We throw rocks," Clancy told Sabrina on their walk to the creek.

"Into the water?"

"Hard," Clancy clarified, and Sabrina had all she could do not to laugh. Both girls were delightful, but Clancy had such a funny way of expressing herself. Clancy took life very seriously at times, and the little girl's sincerity was very fun to watch.

"You can get wet," Hannah filled in now, "but just a little."

"I'll try to remember that," Sabrina said before turning to Jessie. "How long have you been doing this?"

"A long time. After being in the store all week, I just need to get out on Sat.u.r.day evening."

"What do you do in the winter?"

"We come until it's too cold. We usually make it into November but never into December."

"Do you get much snow?"

"We get enough, but the cold is the hardest part. It's unforgiving."

Sabrina got cold easily and did not look forward to that time. It was hard to imagine it getting cold on a warm day like today, but it had been the same in Denver-hot enough to boil you in summer and anything but come winter.

Before she knew it, they were at the creek. It had been closer than she realized, and as she listened to the water ripple over stones, making white waves in some spots, she wondered that she hadn't 80 come here before. The scene caused her to remember all the things Danny had taught her about G.o.d the Creator, and that made her prayerful. It also made her wonder what Jessie believed.

"Over here, Bri," Hannah invited, and Sabrina joined that little girl at the water's edge. From there the time flew, everyone getting a little wet, until Jessie urged Sabrina on her way, making sure she started home long before dark.

When the girls had been out of earshot, though, Jessie had been plainspoken about Token Creek on Sat.u.r.day nights and Sabrina's neighborhood getting more than its share of action when folks started drinking. Sabrina, snug at home, didn't think much of it until the sun set and it got noisy. She fell asleep just fine, but even as she prayed for Jessie and the girls, it occurred to her that Jessie had been right and that going out on Sat.u.r.day nights was probably not the best of ideas.

"What's up?" Trace found Ca.s.sidy in the living room, the lantern turned high and a letter in her hand.

"Jessie had a letter from my mother. Meg brought it back." Trace sat close to his wife. "How is she?"

"Her back has been hurting again, but other than that, all seems well."

"Can she visit when the baby comes?"

Ca.s.sidy smiled before reading, "You had to ask. Just try to keep me away.

"I wondered if she might not feel that way."

"Once she gets here, I won't want her to leave."

"Maybe she'll feel the same way."

"And you would really be all right with that?"

"Well, it would take some getting used to, but I think we would be fine."

Ca.s.sidy smiled at him, thinking he was wonderful, before she 81 finished the letter and snuggled close to Trace's side. She had sudden visions of her mother moving to Token Creek and being strong enough to help Jeanette with the shop and maybe even live in the apartment above. Ca.s.sidy knew it was just a dream, but part of her wondered if someday it might come true.

"Sit by me," Jeanette invited when Sabrina came into the church building on Sunday morning. Sabrina was happy to have Jeanette's company, and between her and Heather, they caught Sabrina up on all news concerning Becky, Timothy, and Theta before they wanted to know how Sabrina was doing in her apartment and was she safe enough?

The women were still visiting when Rylan stepped into the pulpit, but for a moment, Sabrina sat in quiet wonder and prayed. They welcomed her like an old friend, treating her with such love.

Had Sabrina but known it, Jeanette and Heather were so thankful to see her they could have wept. They had not asked her what she believed, but Jeanette had simply taken her along to church on that first Sunday. And now here, living on her own, she had still joined them for the service for the last two weeks.

Rylan had started his sermon, but all the women took time to pray and praise G.o.d for providing in such an amazing way.

Sabrina sat after the sermon ended, reading over Colossians 1:17 and trying to understand what Rylan had meant when he mentioned creation. She was still working on it when Chas Vick came up to speak with Jeanette. Their conversation did not need much time, and as soon as they were done, Jeanette introduced him to Sabrina.

"It's good to meet you," Chas said. "Are you visiting, or have you moved to Token Creek?"

82 "I moved here a few weeks ago," Sabrina said, liking him and feeling free to share. "I work part-time for Jeanette and part-time for Jessie at the mercantile."

"Well, you're a busy lady. Between those two stops, you must see everyone in town."

"Especially at the mercantile," Jeanette added.

"It is busy," Sabrina agreed.

"Where are you living?"

"I'm in one of the apartments on Willow Street."

"One of Butch Sandgren's?"